Sir Paul Holmes and Kim Dotcom share a love of controversy, and a nose for a media moment.

They got both today as the accused pirate flew from his rented Coastesville mansion north-west of Auckland to meet Sir Paul at his Hawke's Bay home.

Mr Dotcom tweeted that he "Almost died to meet the Knight" - a reference to an emergency landing midway through his helicopter trip south.

"Will be late for dinner baby. Fuel dropped to zero with rotor speed warning," Mr Dotcom tweeted dramatically at 1.55pm.

A "bumpy" emergency landing followed on a remote forestry road.

From the giant German's later tweets, it appeared a "loose wire" was the culprit rather than a leak in the tank or something more serious.

After the gauge was fixed about an hour later, the flight resumed without incident.

The registration mark on the helicopter indicates it is a Eurocopter EC 130 B4 owned by Silver Fern Helicopters, an outfit located on the Hibiscus Coast near Coatesville.

ABOVE: "Great afternoon with Sir Paul. Legends may sleep but they never die," tweeted Mr Dotcom. Sir Paul, driving his golf cart, appears to be suppressing an impish grin over his late-career controversy.

The accused pirate described the loose wire as "weird" - a mere hint at wrongdoing that soon had many of his army of social media followers crying "conspiracy" (although not much of a conspiracy, NBR would note, given there was still fuel in the tank).

Mr Dotcom has the distinction of being the ailing broadcaster's final interview on TVNZ's Q+A, in an episode screened on November 18 last year (see part one here and part two here).

Sir Paul has been involved in actual air dramas. In 1989, a helicopter he was flying in crashed into the ocean near Gisborne. Cameraman Joe Von Dinklage was killed in the accident. Sir Paul had further close calls, including crashing his 40s-era biplane on the last day of 2004.

BLACK SHIRT DOWN: A selfie by Mr Dotcom, who tweeted at one point, "Pilot trying to identify the fault. I have 1 bar of reception. Start rationing water :-)." NBR notes there was enough mobile bandwidth to post photos to Instagram.

In another tweet he said "Apparently the closest road is a looooong way from here" - raising the possibility of an impromptu Mega-diet. That spectre diminished as the flight resumed about an hour later.

Got to say, Kim Dotcom seems to have a heart as big as his stature, just looking at the cheer he has brought to an obviously tired and unwell man. There's a smile on Holmsie's face that hasn't been there for quite some time.

Why is dotcom all over NZ media? I just do not understand why he has such a high profile here. Prior to the police raids and the US court case his name was never in the media. But as soon as he is charged by the FBI he is somehow important enough to be in the headlines just about every day.

Yes, it would be nice if the media stopped shoving this guy down our throats. This is a non-event. Fine covering his business launch, but if we want to know his every damn move we can follow his Twitter account without the media acting as repeaters. Maybe you should start focusing on the "B" in NBR.

From my point of view Dotcom is very much relevant to the "B" in NBR. He is an entrepreneurial businessman who thinks big and we are lucky to have such forward-thinking people in New Zealand. Look to the future of business, not the past.

Stephen, at least you admit you just do not understand.
The interweb and its importance in the world and those who would interfere and manipulate governments and lawmakers for profit is newsworthy. Every-day technology is changing our lives and I want to watch the game at play. It's better than watching Coronation Street.

What an absolute delight to see Sir Paul with such a broad smile, so wonderful to see him so obviously enjoying to visit from Kim. For what ever reason Kim went to see Paul he obviously did a very generous thing for our unwell Paul. Thanks Kim for making someone's day !

This whole Dotcom thing is getting a bit distasteful, and the NZ media are being made to look stupid (even by their high standards in that regard) by fawning on him. In due course this rather large Kaiser is going to be found to be wearing precious few clothes.

He is using Holmes to keep himself in the news, and if you cant see that then I cant help you. The only 'effort' Dotcom is making is to keep himself in the news. Ask yourself why he didnt keep this a private visit? There are probably a good many other NZ 'celebs' who have made visits who kept the whole matter private as it should be.

Don't forget, also, that Dotcom's visit keeps Paul Holmes in the news, and as a journo from way back, that's his comfort zone, just as much as those of us for whom it isn't our comfort zone would probably find not a good place to be.

I'm glad some of the other commentors see the glass half-full on this.

LOL. Are you kidding me? This was all a massive publicity stunt on Kim's part. He really is a master of media manipulation. Look he made the front page of practically every major newspaper again. Win.

For the simple people out there, let me break it down for you:

The longer he stays in front of the media, the more profitable it is for him. Kim knows this and uses his money and contacts to achieve such results in a country that is so easily bought. He cares not for your needs but pure profit. This is the mind of a millionaire.

Ummm... I guess we should be so privileged that Batman knows Dotcom personally and is therefore able to tell us what drives him. Or are we just hearing prejudice based on personal dogma unfounded in fact? He may well be driven by the increased desire of selling of himself. What person who believes in themselves does not sell themselves? We all sell ourselves each day in so many ways.

Batman seems to take more offence at a man who has been accused of breaking a law (unfounded so far) yet seems happy that the only laws broken in this case have been by the New Zealand police, government and the United Stated law enforcement agencies.

Sometimes we need to look past our own personal prejudices and look at the bigger picture.

This is a simple and elegant example that there's still good people out there regarding what they might be portrayed as on TV. Sir Paul Holmes, I hope you get better and stay with us for much longer. You're a legend. Kim Dotcom, well done on doing something selfless like that.

The delight on Sir Paul's face is evident for all to see (just sheer joy)! Thank you Mr Dotcom for helping to make our latest Knight's day a happier one; and thanks Sir Paul for just being you - I've 'enjoyed your company' via television and radio media for many, many years - embracing your cheeky grin and downright openess; a man who calls 'a spade a spade'! Love you Paul. x

This guy is a complete fraud, and, we as a country and individuals, are displaying all the qualities that explain why we are virtually a nobody on the world stage in every respect. The fat Kraut is a loathsome conman, a bludging obese slug. The sooner we get rid of him, the better.